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RIO DE JANEIRO -- This past year in Istanbul, U.S. assistant coach Jamie Morrison worked right alongside a man he considers among the best volleyball minds in the business.And fired-up, Italian-born Netherlands coach Giovanni Guidetti is suddenly making quite a splash in Brazil with group of tenacious Dutch women determined to spoil the fun for the top teams in the tournament. Even if few might have expected them to contend while playing in their first Olympics in 20 years.Morrison was an assistant on Guidettis staff at club power Vakifbank in Turkey, coaching Olympians Lonneke Sloetjes, Anne Buijs and Robin de Kruijf and also U.S. outside hitter Kim Hill, who through the net saw several familiar faces.So, when the top-ranked Americans received a real push from the Netherlands in a hard-fought, five-set victory Monday, Morrison and the rest of the U.S. group were nowhere near surprised by the stellar display on the other side. The Dutch had already spoiled Chinas Olympic debut Saturday, then the Chinese bounced back with a straight-set win over Italy.Theyre not intimidated by anybody now, and they shouldnt be. Theyre good, said U.S. coach Karch Kiraly, who figures the group winners wont go unscathed. And thats great, because the Olympics are about being good.Guidetti credits Morrison -- someone he considers above an assistant -- for helping him become a better coach.I learned a lot from him and I hope I can keep learning a lot from him, Guidetti said after the match. Hes an amazing coach. Hes an amazing man and he knows volleyball very well.Hes like a lead guy. Im really trying to learn every time from the people that can teach me, and hes for sure one of the ones that can teach me.The U.S. rallied from one set down and again behind 2-1 to win 18-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 15-8 on a day Netherlands captain Maret Balkestein-Grothues had to be helped off midway through the fourth set with a right ankle injury and didnt return.Simple communications were made before the match.Such close international connections are commonplace in a sport that has no professional league in the U.S. for men or women, meaning players move across the world for eight months of the year to play professionally.I looked across the net and we were smiling before the match, Morrison said. A head nod, nothing more than that, not a hug.You bet the Americans envisioned this success for the Netherlands, a squad Morrison has seen make big strides in a matter of weeks ahead of the Olympics.Volleyball has come enormously far in the Netherlands in the past two years, he said. The team is up and coming and the support in their country is as well.Post-match, beach and indoor gold medalist Kiraly was getting goosebumps on top of my goosebumps thinking about the important test the Americans had just received Monday.The first-pumping, hard-clapping Guidetti lost his voice during the opening match and animatedly bounced around the court again. His example of passion, a desire to learn every day to make everyone around him better, has been a positive influence on the 35-year-old Morrison.He coached on the gold-medal winning mens Olympic staff in 2008 under Hugh McCutcheon and an assistant again as McCutcheon moved to lead the women to silver four years ago in London.Now, hes one of Kiralys right-hand men. When Morrison is not in Turkey with Guidetti, that is.When it came to scouting the Netherlands and other pool opponents -- a six-team group Kiraly called truly gnarly -- in the Olympic lead-up back at training headquarters in Orange County, everyone took part. Morrison said it was a collaborative effort involving the athletes that led to lots of insight into how to attack the Dutch.They pushed us, U.S. middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo said afterward. Thats what we love. We try and embrace those moments.Wholesale Stitched Jerseys .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement. http://www.cheapjerseysfinish.com/ . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Jerseys NFL Wholesale . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. Cheap Custom NFL Jerseys . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum.TORONTO -- Dont blink or you might miss four teams at the World Cup of Hockey.Unlike the Olympics or world championships, pool play at the World Cup is limited to three games for each team. In under a week, half will be eliminated, and that has ratcheted up the urgency for favorites and underdogs alike.Usually in world juniors or world championships -- even Olympics -- you get more than three games to kind of prove yourself, U.S. forward Patrick Kane said Thursday. Three round-robin games, if you dont play well, youre going home.The U.S., Canada, Czech Republic and Team Europe will play to see which two teams move on from Group A, while Team North America, Sweden, Russia and Finland will do the same in Group B. Thanks to the European integration, there are no lightweight opponents for the top countries to warm up against, leading to the possibility that this is the most competitive hockey tournament in history.You shouldnt be taking a night off; its not like an 82-game schedule, U.S. defenseman Matt Niskanen said. But its compounded even more. The tournaments going to be deep. You look at the rosters, theres legit superstars on every team. I dont think you can sleep on anybody.Canada is the clear favorite after going undefeated on the way to gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the past two world championships. But Canadas experienced players are accustomed to a feeling-out process in international competition.Not this time.In the Olympics you never want to stub your toe, but you can have a defeat and learn from it, Canadian general manager Doug Armstrong said. In this event, because youre only playing three games and two teams are moving on, you want to try and make sure that you gain as many points as possible each night and you dont want to wade into anything slowly.The U.S. opens the tournament Saturday against Europe and Canada faces the Czech Republic that night. The Americans and Canadians face off Tuesday in the spotlight game of the preliminary round, and players from those teams know the result of that game could make the difference.Having so much at stake can only make the quality of play better.dddddddddddd think it brings out the best in everyone and that desperation level is probably at the highest it can be, Canadian captain Sidney Crosby said.Making it even more desperate is the fact that goal differential could wind up serving as a tiebreaker.Lets say youre in the middle of game 1 and youre down two -- in a playoff series, its about poise, composure and youve got to work your way back, North American co-GM Peter Chiarelli said. Within a series game to game, you can get off the rails a little bit with your approach and whatnot. Squeeze all that, condense all that into a minute fraction of that and youve got the World Cup.Europe coach Ralph Krueger believes the format could create a breeding ground for upsets.Im really familiar with this kind of pressure right off the hop and the understanding of the dynamics and the dangers of this as the favorite and the opportunities for the perceived underdogs, Krueger said. We look forward to trying to make that work for us.The 23-and-under North American team has speed to burn with captain Connor McDavid and four other No. 1 picks, and teams like Finland, the Czech Republic and Europe could surprise everyone because of goaltending.Really what levels everything out is goaltending in hockey, and every team seems to have a hot goalie and a goalie that can steal a game, Armstrong said.A common theme of media day Thursday was players and coaches explaining that theyre getting better by the day. There isnt much more time to get ramped up. As Canadian forward John Tavares put it, theres no room for error so the next best thing is finding a groove.Play consistent, North American defenseman Seth Jones said. We cant take a game off; there are only three. Its only two to move on. You can do the math there, and really see how hard its going to be to move on.---Follow Stephen Whyno on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/SWhyno ' ' '